With the help of 16 pug friends, Ed Grant proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Alexandra Justins, after a romantic boat ride through Central Park followed by lunch and champagne, the Huffington Post reports.
Grant and Justins hail from London, and several weeks prior to their four-day trip to the Big Apple, Grant contacted the New York City Pug Meetup Group for some help in surprising pug-lover Justins with a big group of furry friends on Oct. 27. Ten people and 16 pugs from New York and New Jersey met the couple at the park's famous Bow Bridge after they had gone on their boat ride and had lunch, on the premise that Grant just wanted a picture.
By that time, a crowd had already gathered as people began arriving with tons of pugs, big pink helium heart-shaped balloons tired around their collars.
"Alex was overwhelmed and I think the penny dropped that something was about to happen, especially as there was a huge crowd of people all with their camera phones ready," Grant told TODAY.com. "I have never seen Alex happier than when she sees a pug so I thought I would make her super happy (by seeing 16 at once), and then I hoped even happier by proposing to her!"
Though he was nervous, Grant managed to give a short speech before getting down on one knee to propose, assisted by cheers and applause from the crowd of on-lookers and pug enthusiasts.
After Justins said yes, the couple celebrated with the 10 pug owners and their dogs, including Poppy, Mr. Shiznit, Gus, Hamilton, Finn, Ed, Annabelle, and Bailey, over drinks.
"I thought the whole proposal was very sweet," Wendy Frink, who attended the event and wrote about it on BarkBox's BarkPost, told TODAY.com. "Extremely thoughtful, personal, down-to-earth and heartwarming. Alex was just ecstatic."
While on "The Today Show" with her fiance, Justins said, "I was totally overwhelmed and I could not believe that Ed had organized everything. It made an incredibly special moment even more memorable. I was so touched that people that we had never met wanted to be a part of our special moment."
While hundreds of proposals have happened at New York City's famous Bow Bridge, as HuffPost writes, this may the cutest one yet.
Click here to see more photos of Ed Grant's proposal to Alexandra Justins on the Bow Bridge in Central Park accompanied by 16 pugs.
